My love for reggae, or dub in particular, dates back to my adolescence, the time when I emancipated myself from the listening behaviours of my peers at home and at school, the time when my musical interest was about to mature. Still, my relationship with Jamaican music remained superficial for the longest time. There were no specialist record shops anywhere near where I grew up, no radio stations with a reggae programme, and the internet was still unheard of. I caught a first glimpse of what dub was through No Protection, an album by a band from Bristol (Massive Attack) remixed by a Guyana-born, London-based producer (Mad Professor). In other words an entirely British affair, music produced about 7,500 kilometres (or 4,600 miles) from the motherland: Jamaica. While I got closer to that island over the years, I never was fully satisfied with what I got. Thankfully that was about to change after I reached out to my Twitter followers. This book by Lloyd Bradley was recommended to me by whoever operates the Hyperdub account on Twitter, and it’s what gave me an indepth education on Jamaican music.

On over 500 pages, Bradley writes down the history of Jamaican music since the 1950s. From early sound systems playing RnB records imported from the U.S., which eventually lead to the creation of ska and rocksteady, to the emancipation of Jamaican music through roots reggae, then later dub and dancehall. The book succeeds in putting all of that into a bigger picture, as it relates the the story of reggae to the history of the island. You will read about the politcal situation on the island, its independence, Marcus Garvey and Pan-Africanism, emperor Haile Selassie I., the role of rastafarianism, reggae conquering the UK, the Notting Hill race riots, Kool Herc bringing soundsystem culture to hip-hop – it’s all in the book.

Whether you can relate to what I said in the introduction text or simply want to broaden your horizon, Bass Culture is a book I can’t recommend enough!

It’s been quiet about Dim Grimm (aka Dimlite) for some time, and so far I blamed the recording of his Cite album for it. However, only yesterday I found about his new Dym Quell Holo alias, but then again that’s a different story. Today, the official Dim Grimm is back with an interpretation of Dorian Concept’s “The Sky Opposite”, taken from last year’s Joined Ends album.

Anthony released his debut album Body Pill this week, a record I haven’t listened to enough to make up my mind yet. What I did enjoy tremendously is his guestmix for the Resident Advisor podcast series. Music from Led Zeppelin, Tim Hecker, Terry Riley, into a proper selection of house and techno.

Following the self-titled debut and last year’s Zootie, Will Bankhead’s Trilogy Tapes is about to release a new Rezzett 12-inch towards the end of next week. You might remember we already shared the track Twizzta some weeks back, but the targeted release date was pushed back until now. Should you decide to order your copy directly from the TTT shop, you might also be interested in the Rezzett Live cassette.

Of all the tracks on Dorian Concept‘s Joined Ends, one could argue that “The Sky Opposite” shares a lot of emotion with Tim Hecker‘s music. From that perspective I find it interesting to hear what the latter made of his remix, or that he even picked the track. Anyway, earlier today Ninja Tune revealed the release of the Joined End Remix EP , which also includes remixes by Kuedo, Nathan Fake, Bibio and Redinho, the last one being a digital exclusive.

Still a while to go until you can pick this up at your favourite record store, the remix EP will be out in late April. Pre-orders available from the NinjaShop and iTunes.

Following Steven Hall’s Arthur’s Landing project on SoundCloud, I probably heard more reworks of Arthur Russell‘s material than most people should. At least that’s what I thought until this track surfaced on my feed today. From what I make of the sparse information coming with it, this might or might not be an early (or stripped down) version of 1982’s “Clean on Your Bean”, which was released in version #1. In any case, the producer of the of the original, Peter Gordon, appears to have given his blessing on this as it will be part of a release called “Arthur Russell’s Instrumentals Directed by Peter Gordon”. There should be more information available before it comes out this April on London’s foom label.

Travelling with my family through Europe many years ago, I first ran into Andrew Pekler inside small record store somewhere in Germany. What better opportunity is there for a kid to avoid boring sightseeing to spend some hours digging for records? This is how I eventually got to know Andrew’s own music, from his involvement in several bands to his solo efforts as Sad Rockets and under his own name.

Maybe not as charming as his “fooling around” videos, but then this one mostly serves as a promotional video for the Roland company. In it, you can watch Dorian Concept as he builds a track from scratch on the JD-Xi. Just like that.

British drummer and percussionist Nick Woodmansey aka Emanative shared his take on Pharoah Sanders’ “Hum Allah Hum Allah Hum Allah”, which is to appear on his forthcoming album co-released by the Steve Reid Foundation and Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings. The original recording was part of the 1969 album Jewels Of Thought and featured musicians of the calibre of Lonnie Liston Smith, Roy Haynes, Leon Thomas and Idris Muhammed.